Abstract
This study aimed to confirm the relationships between part-time work experience, mental health, and suicidal behavior in adolescents. The impact of part-time work in this population is a controversial topic, perhaps because of the sociocultural background-related inconsistencies in previous results. In this cross-sectional study, which involved a secondary analysis of data from the 11th–13th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Surveys, conducted among 800 middle and high schools by the Korean government, we used propensity score matching analysis to minimize the impact of individual backgrounds on the findings concerning the relationships in question. Overall, part-time experience was significantly related to mental health problems and suicidal behavior even after eliminating background differences. Adolescents with part-time work experience had higher overall stress levels (odds ratio = 1.148; 95% confidence interval = 1.094, 1.205) than those without such experience, and more suicidal thoughts (odds ratio = 1.355; 95% confidence interval = 1.266, 1.450), suicide planning (odds ratio = 1.717; 95% confidence interval = 1.527, 1.929), and suicide attempts (odds ratio = 1.852; 95% confidence interval = 1.595, 2.151). Thus, it is important to pay increased attention to mental health and suicide-related issues in South Korean adolescents with part-time jobs.
Highlights
Worldwide, 23% of youth in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries are engaged in some form of employment [1]
Our results suggest that in adolescents, part-time work experience is associated with suicidal behavior as well as mental health problems
In Korean adolescents, part-time work experience was significantly associated with mental health problems and suicidal behavior even after correcting the difference between the two groups through
Summary
23% of youth in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries are engaged in some form of employment [1]. In Korea, about 1.47 million youth are employed, and the share of adolescents in the workforce has been increasing in recent years [3]. There are conflicting views on the impact of youth employment [4]. Steady work for low-income adolescents is associated with a more positive view of the future and higher efficacy [6]. Youth employment has been associated with low academic achievement, misconduct, and suicidal thoughts [7,8,9]. In Korea, adolescent employment has been shown to be significantly associated with high drinking and smoking rates [9]
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